LAKE FOREST : Scenic Park Languishes in Disarray

Caught in a tug of war over who should maintain Serrano Community Park, neighborhood residents are growing angry as untended trash cans overflow onto the once-scenic park.

With both the city and county arguing over responsibility for the park, mounds of trash spill over their containers and are being scattered across the park. Long-abandoned beer bottles, dirty disposable diapers and other rubbish can be found in the leaves between fragrant eucalyptus trees.

“It’s a shame,” said Rhonda Vardakas, who takes her 2-year-old daughter to the park every week. “This is more than a single weekend’s worth of trash. It’s really an embarrassment.”

Neighbors say they have been caught between the park and a hard place since the newly incorporated city took over all services from the county in July.

Phone calls to both city and county officials have only resulted in finger-pointing as the trash piles grow higher, said Al Vasquez, who lives across the street from the park. Coyotes have been spotted in the park feeding off the refuse, and tempers are growing short, he said.

“We’ve been trying to resolve this for weeks, and it doesn’t look like anyone (in City Hall) cares,” he said. “We’re really getting frustrated over here.”

It doesn’t look like the situation will be resolved soon. City officials say the park suffered from erosion caused by the flooding of Serrano Creek, which runs through the park. They won’t accept responsibility for the park until repairs are made by the county.

“That land was never annexed to the city,” Councilwoman Marcia Rudolph said. “Defects or damage caused by storms have to be fixed first. If I were a resident (living near the park) I’d be clouding up and raining all over Supervisor (Gaddi H.) Vasquez’s office.”

Vasquez, whose 3rd District includes Lake Forest, had maintenance crews clean up the park about 10 days ago. But there has been no trash removal since. The park used be cleaned four times a week. County officials said they will probably send county crews in today.

“Frankly, I place a higher priority to citizens in getting that park cleaned up,” Vasquez said. “Fundamentally, they agreed to take over that park when they incorporated, just like any of the other cities that have incorporated recently.”

Situated near Toledo Way and Serrano Road, the 60-acre park is lined with thick groves of eucalyptus trees, hiking and equestrian trails. Boasting a large playground with a mammoth boat, the park is also popular with children.

The city and county have been negotiating over the past few weeks in hope of settling the dispute. Neither side appeared willing to budge from its position on Monday.

John Sibley, deputy director of the County Environmental Management Agency, said steps have been taken to shore up the creek bed. County workers have placed rocks in the creek bed and bottom to stabilize its slopes.

County officials said they would clean up the park regularly until an agreement is reached.

Al Vasquez said that if two weeks continue to go by between cleanings, the city can expect a visit from him and a few large garbage bags.

“I’m tempted to bag the trash up and take it to a city meeting and deliver it to the mayor,” he said. “Our children shouldn’t have to live near this mess. It’s really too bad.”